AGREED!!! This is beyond ridiculous and Apple needs to fix it immediately! Everyone understands the whole purpose of an encryption password. Thank you!! We don't need to keep hearing about it. Unfortunately, there are a ton of people that never even set a password. And there are a ton of people like me that use the same few passwords over and over again. With that being said how in the sam h would I forget my password?!?! I mean seriously? There has got to be a way to fix this problem........

Everyone who has an encrypted backup either set a password or had one set by their Exchange administrator when they created a corporate Exchange email account on their phones. Backups do not get encrypted by accident.

Well, then someone needs to explain to me why i've tried the same cycle of passwords I always use and none of them work! If anything there should be a way for the user to have the forgotten password option. Yea yea defeats the whole point of encryption. I can guarantee you I did not "forget" my password! I literally use the same ones over and over again. Probably not smart I know but it stops me from "forgetting" my password!

SportVixen, basically what I think has happened (as happened with mine) was this - not sure if it makes any difference if you use a PC with iTunes (like I do) but it seems from others comments that MAC users have it easier in retrieving their passwords afterwards.

A little while back there was a big kerfuffle at Apple about peoples iPhone backups containing a little too much personal info (enough for say an obsessed spouse/ partner to go ape with - texts, who the person has called, locational data yadda yadda). I think some "bright spark" coder at the company thought that they would set iTunes so by default it would encrypt backups - problem solved... However the person was obviously a Mac user as they completely failed to understand how it would effect PC users. Furthermore the (wrong) advice I was given by the telephone support folks was to try my windows password (which others have said has worked for them). Funnily enough I think that a 3rd party peice of software decrypting/ unhashing my own personal OS password and using it for my iTunes password may well be illegal? Basically there is no way that anyone at Apple is capable of admitting that there is a problem with anything they do (Iphone antennas anyone?) and the points system on this site seems to award peeps for covering Apple's rear rather than helping people so I would show greater disregard for those with the most points.

My advice... jailbreak the device. It is much better outside the walled garden and there is a large community of very helpful unbiased folk in that community that can help you with issues and you may even be able to retrieve your data at some point (no hopes up though).

Or you could follow Mr Finch's previous advice to me... something along the lines of go and buy an Android device wasn't it Lawrence?

Thanks Tom!! Yea I don't care how many points you have so long as you're giving me a solution to my problem. Isn't the world just amazing now days?!?! Can't own up to mistakes!! My hopes aren't up anymore and it just ***** because we really need the text messages for a custody battle. These are the only proof we have in writing against the other parent. Now, without it we are probably going to lose and the kids' future are in real jeopardy. Apple doesn't understand the extent of the problems that this is causing!!!

I have the same issue..I have never back-up using iTunes before..only Time Machine but I have not set any password.

I have problem with my iPad, just bougt it on 7th Jan. The battery was depleted when it was 50% the night before. When I charged it, little revolving circle appears and keeps on revolving. I've tried hard reset using Home + Power Off Button for 10 seconds. Apple logo appears and then that litle revolving circle again. I can switch off the iPad either. It keeps circling until the battery depleted again.

I want to restore, but my back-up was encrypted. I'm afraid I would be losing all my data. Connecting it to iTunes does not prompt any error.

I had the same issue. My computer login password was the one it endup assigning to the backup. Try that.

"It" would have no way to assign your computer login password, because your login password is not stored anywhere on your computer. Instead a version of it that is one way encrypted (meaning that given the encrypted password you cannot find out the original password) is stored. So if the backup password is your login password you must have entered it. There is no other way it could have been assigned. You have just demonstrated that anyone with this problem actually entered the password, either without realizing it or forgetting they did so.

From reading this and other threads, quite a few people eventually identified the password, and for all of them it was a familiar password (I've seen iTunes password, company domain password, previous domain password, login password, several personal passwords, phone unlock passcode, etc). All of the ones mentioned are stored securely (one-way encrypted), so in all of those cases they had to have been entered. While this doesn't prove it for everyone, it is a significant indication.

I actually have to change my login password every 90 per my company's system so even if I had put in the password and forgot, it wouldn't have been the same login password i used today.

Although I do not understand why this was the case, i read it on another post and it helped me. I figured if people are in a dire situation and were willing to try then why not. It might help someone and at least is an attempt at a solution.

This site contains user submitted content, comments and opinions and is for informational purposes only.
Apple may provide or recommend responses as a possible solution based on the information provided; every potential issue may involve several factors not detailed in the conversations captured in an electronic forum and Apple can therefore provide no guarantee as to the efficacy of any proposed solutions on the community forums.
Apple disclaims any and all liability for the acts, omissions and conduct of any third parties in connection with or related to your use of the site. All postings and use of the content on this site are subject to the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use.